, Columnist
In Belarus It’s Ultimately All Up to Putin
The Russian president can’t afford to let Belarus prosper as a democracy. He must make it fail, keep it as a buffer state or even take it over.
Putin doesn’t wear white.
Photographer: Natalia Fedosenko/TASS via Getty Images
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It’s hard to think of anything more ominous than Russian President Vladimir Putin offering you his “assistance” so you can “resolve the problems” that are keeping you busy. But that’s what Putin has just promised to Alexander Lukashenko, the embattled and apparently fading dictator of Belarus.
As the post-Soviet state, wedged awkwardly between the European Union and NATO on one side and Russia on the other, struggles for its freedom, it’s worth keeping in mind who will ultimately decide its future.